Yeah it was cool man, it was crazy. It’s not my scene. The red carpet, music celebrity vibe is not really my favourite part… Not only is it not my favourite part, I would say it’s as far as you can possibly go from the creation of music (laughs). You know what I mean? Like, why we play music, why we all started as kids and what it means to sit next to someone and play a guitar with them. It’s as opposite as you can get from that.

Going back for the second time. You had an idea.

Yeah, sure. Well, I guess… Once you go the first time and you figure out what it’s about and all that stuff, I think you’re better prepared. I felt more prepared for what was going to happen this time and what to expect. A lot has changed in the last two years, since we won the first Grammy. We’re a little more visible. That’s really – sad to say – but that’s what the Grammys are about. It’s not the music scene. I shouldn’t say shit like this in an interview.

The first time we went, we were just completely unknown. We walked in, got our award and left. Nobody knew us before we came in and nobody knew us before we came out. This time, some stuff has changed and we’ve worked with artists that are a little higher profile. We’ve become a little more successful. As a result of that, we did what you’re supposed to do at the Grammys, which is talk to people that are in the music industry and meet other artists that you always wanted to meet. There was one moment where I turned around and I was walking down the red carpet with David Crosby and then he wasn’t there anymore. And then he was a couple of feet behind me and he was talking to Alice Cooper and Joe Perry. And I was like ‘Woah!’ I snuck in and got a photo with the three of them. It was really weird, but that to me, was when I got what it was all about. It’s an opportunity for all these music industry to connect with each other and for me, I was just spending it having meetings with people. Trying to constructive and not to focus on anything like glamour. That’s not what we’re about and I don’t really care about that shit. I’m trying to get into film scoring, so I was meeting with people like that.

Do you get asked what you’re wearing?

Yeah there were some interviews on the red carpet, where they asked, ‘So why did you choose to wear…?” And I went, “Honestly, I don’t care, man.” You know, you have to be nice about it. It’s not who I am, it’s not how we are, the guys in the band. We’re like the kids with the dirty faces who snuck into the rich peoples’ party. I think that’s our scene and it always will be, even if things continue to go well. At heart, we’re just people who like to play music.

But I don’t want to make it sound like we’re not grateful for everything. Because we’re very grateful for the things the Grammys have brought for us. We were very surprised to win that award, especially people like Marcus Miller, whom we consider awesome.

Family Dinner Volume II released right after the Grammys, right? How has it been received?

Yes, the record came out three days before the Grammys. That was just coincidence, though. It’s been amazing. The response has been so good. I never stop being surprised when people are receptive to our music. We’ve made so many records and in so many forms that I’m just waiting for the record that comes out and people say, ‘All right, this one sucked. They’re done.’ People seem to be open-minded about what we do. (Laughs) Our last album was a symphonic album and then we made a record with eight singers from around the world. People are receptive to both those things and they’re opposite things. I’m just grateful that people put faith in us and trust us and open their minds to new music. It’s special; not everyone’s fans are like that.

I heard it was recorded during Mardi Gras in New Orleans?

Yeah, we did. The only bad thing was that it was a pain in the ass to get to the studio, because of all the parades, but it was cool. It was really so that people who were coming to the recording would stay and have a good time in New Orleans, you know?

Did you guys all party after recording?

We were out every night! After the shows finished at 11:30 PM, we would roll out and go to the Maple Leaf or DVA or Blue Nile – or any of those badass New Orleans clubs that have music until 3 AM. We’d be there and when the music ended, we’d start playing (laughs). Carlos Malta, from Brazil, he brought his flute and every night, we’d have a samba party. And in New Orleans, they love it. They don’t give a shit. They close when you stop playing, so it was fun.

What are the logistics of putting together a live DVD with so many collaborators? Have you put someone else in charge of that?

I used to do all of it, until Sylva was the first time… although [with] We Like It Here, I had some help. But Sylva was the first time we really had a production management unit. So now, I don’t do that, but I do the front end of the logistics, you know? Stuff like picking the artists, scheduling the rehearsals, building timetables… and other people execute it, which is much better (laughs).

So that means you’re still the point of contact between all these artists and the production?

Yeah. I reached out to the artists, for sure. I don’t like the… somebody’s manager reaching out to another person’s manager? I don’t know, it just feels funny to me. Especially if I know the artist. Like Jacob (Collier) – whom I have been friends with for three years.

What are your touring plans like for the rest of the year?

Yeah we’re doing a little South America thing. We’re going to Mexico, which is not South America, but after that we’re going to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. It’s like five gigs in South America.

After that, we have our 11th record Culcha Vulcha coming out, at the end of April. As soon as that comes out we’re on tour for three months – that’s like North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia. All over the place.

Could you tell me a bit about Culcha Vulcha?

Well it’s cool. There are 12 brand-new Snarky Puppy instrumental songs, old school, regular, no special guest vocalists or orchestra. It’s our first studio album in seven years. No audience, no video. We went into this ranch in West Texas. It’s a total desert and it’s five minutes from the Mexican border and we stayed there for a week and we cranked up 12 tunes and with overdubs. Sonically, it’s very different. It’s much more ambitious and much less natural. It’s a little warmer and sonically explorative.

Because our audio engineer – the guy who mixed all our records – he passed away very suddenly this year, so now we have a new engineer. Rather than have the new engineer do what Eric Hartman used to do, we have a guy who’s the exact opposite. We’re trying to give him an opportunity to really express his voice as an audio engineer. Which is important – to let people do what they’re best at. I love the combination of us and him, I think it’s going to be really cool. That’s the music we’re touring.

What was it like working on Culcha Vulcha? Who was involved?

The way it works in this band is always that whoever writes the song, writes it by themselves. We don’t co-write. For this record, I wrote six songs. Six other guys wrote one each. I wrote half the record and then half the band each wrote a song, which was really cool. The music is going in a really interesting direction, I feel. With this record, it’s darker and moodier. It’s really more of a groovier record. It doesn’t have the kind of bombastic, fireworks shit that We Like It Here has. It’s more patient, it feels more mature to me, more sonic… just deeper, you know? I’m curious to see how people respond to it, especially since there’s no video. Our fans are so used to video. Maybe people will hate it, I don’t know.

Will people be able to tell which songs you wrote and the ones the others wrote?

I don’t know. I feel like my writing is kind of going into a different space. While I was listening to the stuff I wrote on the record, I feel like there’s a sense of unity. The record’s all over the place, like all our stuff. They go in many different directions. You’re going to be a better person to tell me that. I have no clue, but you probably will.

Is it going to make people headbang, like that one guy in a 5,000 capacity venue?

Oh, I don’t know about that. I don’t think it’s a headbanger. Maybe it is, though! It’s like a slow headbanger, I think.

When you’re on tour, I’m guessing people would want stuff from Family Dinner, but you’ll only play Culcha Vulcha, right?

Yeah. We’re only going to play from Culcha Vulcha. We can’t do that stuff without those singers, you know? Sylva and Family Dinner, these aren’t Snarky Puppy records. They’re special projects. It’s not who we are as a live band. That’s what I love about touring, we always get to go back to who we really are and remind ourselves about that. This time, the material is great, so it’s going to be fun.

Have you got any more offers from India?

I don’t know, man. When I was going to India, I was just going as a tourist. I taught a masterclass at the True School of Music in Mumbai, but man… I’ve been dying for an Indian tour. Please, somebody make it happen. Call Oranjuice or whatever. I really want it to happen. India’s one of my favourite places in the world and I’m waiting for the day I get the call saying, ‘We got a tour in India’.

It’s not just as simple as screening a bunch of Indian films in a posh London cinema, but the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) also knows it’s not all meant to be about glitz and glamour. The fourth annual edition (from July 18 to 25) of the week-long, cross-city film festival seems to always strike the right balance between art-oriented films, indie films and the big Bollywood releases. Of course, sometimes, the film does half the work for them. Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur 2 premiered in London a day before its release in India, and remains lauded for marrying aesthetic film-making and gripping story-telling with the typical Bollywood fare of drama and song.

At the 2013 edition, Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout and Bombay Talkies (directed in parts by Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Bannerjee) will open and close LIFF, respectively. The choice is a nod towards the reception both films received at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Film screenings are dotted all across the city of London, including opening in the West End at the historic Cineworld Haymarket, and continuing at BFI Southbank, Cineworld cinemas, Shaftesbury Avenue, Wood Green, Wandsworth, Staples Corner, and the O2 in Royal Greenwich, the Peckamplex and ICA near the Pall Mall.

One of the main highlights of LIFF includes a conversation with Irrfan Khan, who has quickly risen to become a well-regarded Indian face in global cinema, participating in projects from the UK, US and Bollywood itself. Irrfan will be interviewed by Brit Indian documentary director Asif Kapadia, who last gained unanimous praise for depicting the racing career of Ayrton Senna in the documentary, Senna.

A spot of regional representation at LIFF comes from Pawan Kumar, whose crowd-funded Kannada film Lucia will be screened at the festival. The film, a drama set in Bangalore, breaks new ground for Kannada cinema. Lucia essays an usher in a run-down cinema who finds he is suffering from insomnia. Soon, he gets the most incredible, weird and wonderful dreams that have life-changing properties, that of course, come at a price. Apart from actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s second role being screened to London audiences (the first being Gangs of Wasseypur 2 and this year, he stars in Monsoon Shootout), Bengali director Q returns to LIFF as well, with Tasher Desh (TheLand of Cards). Q’s seminal film Gandu was screened at LIFF 2012, where he also performed with his rap outfit Gandu Circus and jammed with singer Susheela Raman.

Festival director Carey Rajinder said in a statement, “It’s great to be working on the zeitgeist of new Indian cinema and we aren’t just showing Indian films for Indian audiences, but kicking open the door to the rich diversity of independent cinema emerging across the Indian subcontinent today. It’s also exciting to see some of the best of the filmmakers we have helped champion, now starting to be recognised on the world stage, where they belong. We are very proud to be showcasing these new films here, first, in London.” Other films screening at LIFF 2013 include B.A. Pass by Ajay Bahl, The Bright Day by Mohit Takalkar, Elippathayam by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, The Good Road by Gyan Correa, Josh by Iram Parveen Bilal, Life is Good by Ananth Mahadevan, Mapa by Elías León Siminiani, Pune 52 by Nikhil Mahajan, and Shahid by Hansal Mehta.

It’s never been a better time to be an independent band, writing your own music, promoting yourself relentlessly for gigs and gathering enough money to record songs in the studio. Though they’re just one gig old, the odds are high for Machine Era, who play alternative rock. Formed by guitarist Abhimanyu Ghoshal, bassist Paul Dharmaraj, drummer Shreyas Dipali and vocalist Saahas Patil, Machine Era’s brand of alternative rock is as much rock as it is alternative. “It’s for when you want to think about the state of the world, and accordingly, it’s not quiet,” says Ghoshal.

The story behind the band

Dharmaraj is a former member of psychedelic band The Bicycle Days, where Dipali is still a drummer. While Ghoshal is a photographer, vocalist Saahas Patil also lends his voice to Allegro Fudge. “Our current lineup came together in September last year, and we’ve taken our time writing music and learning to craft songs along the way. I kept in touch with Paul when he shipped off to Cardiff to study and sent him a few demos I’d made at home, and he joined us as soon as he returned to Bangalore,” says Ghoshal, adding jokingly: “It seems his (Paul’s) standards were quite low at the time.”

You guys play music because

Says Ghoshal: “The four of us are from different musical backgrounds and we like exploring different sonic territory, so there’s the occasional metal riff or ambient section in our set. It’s therefore important for us to establish a wide spectrum of sounds to play around with, and the alt rock label allows us that flexibility.”

You’ll still remember the time when

They’ve only had one live concert so far, at Alliance Francaise’s World Music Day celebrations in June. “I think we were all surprised when we actually functioned as a cohesive unit for the first time. Plus, it seems to have triggered a change in momentum for us as a band – there’s now a pressure of sorts to write more, gig more and be a band worth listening to,” says Ghoshal.

Toughest part about being a young band

Says Ghoshal: “Writing good music and lyrics – we’re still learning the ropes of songwriting, and so producing stuff that we enjoy playing and listening to, takes time. Still, we’re trying to be as productive as possible within our limited capabilities.” Their first bootleg recording of the song “Ouroboros” sounds like a daydream or a musing tinged with melancholy that gets aggressive as it goes along.

Story behind the name

“The first bunch of songs we’ve been working on is based on the times we live in, and I was looking for a way to describe what we’ve become, as a society. The name seemed to conjure the imagery I had in mind, and I thought it’d do well to give people an idea of what we’re about,” says Ghoshal.

Musicians that inspire you

Deftones, Incubus and A Perfect Circle

Compositions over covers

Says Ghoshal: “We’re really in this to write music and not just play live, so covers don’t really figure in the equation. I think a cover is worth doing when you can put an interesting spin on it, whether by trying a new arrangement (try Thermal and a Quarter’s cover of Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’) or giving it a different feel altogether like A Perfect Circle taking on John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’.”

]]>https://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/an-interesting-spin-machine-era-profile/feed/0anuragtagatBeatstreet: Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork Album Reviewhttps://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/beatstreet-queens-of-the-stone-age-like-clockwork-album-review/
https://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/beatstreet-queens-of-the-stone-age-like-clockwork-album-review/#respondThu, 18 Jul 2013 18:32:09 +0000http://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/?p=346Continue reading →]]>Originally published in the Hindu Metroplus Bangalore edition on July 3rd, 2013

For an introduction, Queens of the Stone Age are a hard/heavy/stoner/psychedelic rock band which once delivered a song called ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ in 2000. And though the connotations of that song are only understood once you listen to it, the band is out to do something not-so-feel-good on their latest album, …Like Clockwork.

Of course, thirteen years and three albums after they shot to mainstream success, this new record makes for a great summer addition to the list of albums filling up CD racks/hard disk folders. The only thing is, it’s got that heat and sweaty, stoner, desert rock sound that the band is known for, but it’s much more of a depressing album. In case you haven’t checked out the music videos released for the first singles, it’s a very freaky storyline QOTSA is visualising. ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’ is a mellow opening, compared to their usual style of getting a hooky song in first. But ‘I Sat By The Ocean’ and ‘The Vampyre of Time and Memory’ shows return to the that classic style of screeching guitar melodies from guitarist and vocalist Josh Homme.

Homme pulls in a number of old friends on …Like Clockwork, from past members such as Joey Castillo and Nick Olivieri to more famous names such as Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Elton John and Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails). There are three stellar tracks that make up the central part of this album which are really diverse – from the epic rock ‘If I Had A Tail’ featuring Turner to the hard rock instant-classic ‘My God Is The Sun’ and then the mellow, half-haunting ‘Kalopsia’ featuring Reznor in a collaboration like no other (well, you can also count their jam on the soundtrack to the documentary Soundcity: Real to Reel). Piano rockstar Elton John leads on with the band on ‘Fairweather Friends’ while the last three songs on the album are left entirely to the band. There’s truly something about the flow of the riffs, alluding to the title …Like Clockwork, like on the dreamy, symphonic ‘I Appear Missing’.

They strut in true QOTSA style on ‘Smooth Sailing’, a clear indication of what’s happening with the band despite the six-year gap in albums. Sure there was Soundcity, sure there was Them Crooked Vultures (a supergroup we need to hear from again), but for now, it’s all about Queens of the Stone Age.

Alternative rock band Slow Down Clown’s frontman Vitek Goyel has a funny picture of him wearing a T-shirt which proudly claims he’s a “townie”. For those not in the know, that’s a Mumbai term for those who reside in South Mumbai, usually referred to as “town”. Though townies are typified to be snobbish, upper class folks with all the spoils, Goyel and Slow Down Clown (comprising guitarist Anurag Shanker, bassist Wilson Kenneth and drummer Arfaaz Kagalwala) stay far away from the kind you can’t relate to. On their debut full-length album, Forget The Night, the band pens a wonderful, misty and melancholic tribute to the city of Mumbai.

The best part is they don’t do it by talking about potholes and politicians. They open with an ode to the sea, with a sparkling nine minute-long mellow jam called ‘Shoreline’ which picks up when it needs to, stays repetitive, but never gets boring. They tick all the boxes on the Indian indie sheet, not just by recording and distributing their album all by themselves, but by making sure the first song you hear is the most convincing one, regardless of how long or short it is.

If you made it through ‘Shoreline’, the rest of Forget The Night is a sublime collection of (probably) deep, personal feelings ranging from despair (‘The Disappearing Boy’) to unrequited love (‘Stupid Sea’) to even successful, requited love (on the djembe-guitar jam ‘Bandra Girls’). There’s a smooth, mellow sound to most songs, comparable to the likes of R.E.M and Third Eye Blind. It’s certainly inspired by American rock, but the lyrics make it stand out. Goyel touches upon suicide and depression, something that’s all too common in a metropolis like Mumbai. On ‘You Lie’, there’s a sweet despair in his voice, just as it gets rightly brooding on ‘Perfect,’ where Goyel sings “But dreams like that don’t just fall apart/They fade away in the darkness of this town.”

Slow Down Clown takes up a few experiments but also stays safe at times, with their alt rock sound being not-so-stand out in parts. Even then, this is exactly the kind of Indian independent music that needs support – to continue putting out albums which serve as a collection of not just music, but as stories from a city and its experiences in the city – like a storybook that doesn’t need a lot of images to be visual.

Not a lot of bad things come from a trip, and sludge metal band Shepherd is testament to that. For the uninitiated, sludge is a genre that is exactly what it sounds like – it’s heavy rock with the emphasis on the heavy. Slow, dense, muddy guitar riffs from Namit Chauhan match heavy percussion from Deepak Raghu and chunky bass grooves courtesy Abhishek Michael, while vocalist Mahesh Raju booms on with a voice that shouts and screams. “It’s a sensory assault that’ll wash away the trivialities of existence,” says Raju about their sound, while Raghu adds: “(It) makes you experience truths and realities that are as old as the universe itself.”

The story behind the band

Being the psychedelic-inclined band that they are, Shepherd formed in July 2011. All members knew each other and decided to jam, and “leave something more than just carbon footprints behind,” says Raghu. The idea of forming a sludge band had been floating around since 2007, according to Raju. Things crystallised only in 2011 when Raghu got back from Los Angeles. Former bassist Muneeb Peeran played with Raghu in another band, Fall of Reason, and did sessions for groove metallers Blind Image. Michael, who also plays with thrash/death metal band Inner Sanctum, took over bass duties last year.

You guys play music because

While vocalist Raju says it’s a form of liberation, drummer Raghu adds: “I play music because it beats doing most other stuff and it comes highly recommended from most of the musicians I look upto.”

You’ll still remember the time when

Says Raju: “My best memory of the band is our first show where we pretty much winged an entire set on stage. That changed all our notions of this band and was proof that we were onto something. That was a long time ago and now we’ve moved on to playing a proper set and the response has been great.”

Toughest part about being a young band

“Convincing people to like your page on Facebook,” jokes Raghu while Raju adds: “Being noticed. Novelty is the only saving grace, more so in a city teeming with bands.”

Story behind the name

Says Raju: “Me, Namit and Deepak were tripping on shrooms when we saw a bunch of sheep grazing around us. The word Shepherd came to mind and all of us thought it would make a great band name. Plus, the fact that there aren’t any active bands that share the name sealed the deal.”

Musicians that inspire you

Soundgarden, The Melvins, Eyehategod, Black Flag, Discharge

Compositions over covers

While Shepherd is known for their heavy renditions of Pink Floyd classics such as ‘Have A Cigar’ and ‘Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun’, Raghu says he plays covers to geek out on the drums. “Learning and playing chops ala Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) or Chris Hakius (OM, Sleep). But having said that, playing your own songs is obviously more awesome,” the drummer says.

Raju adds: “Who doesn’t want to rock out on stage to their favourite songs? We’ve made a conscious effort to rework songs to convey the band’s aesthetic as opposed to sticking to the original cause we’re not a cover band. The covers have played a vital role in formulating our sound. Original material is what this band is about and we’re having a blast playing our stuff.”

It’s pretty amazing where Indian musicians have reached, in terms of producing and recording music. Even as early as five years ago, programmed drums sounded like an old drum machine’s stiff beats, but now, the average Indian rock fan can’t tell whether drums used on a song were tracked off a computer, or played and recorded live. One among several bands making sure they have the best production and sound on the album is cinematic psychedelic band Grasshopper. Their debut full-length album, Mirrors of the Mind is a dark, film-score-like trip with a good amount of diverse rock elements.

Of course, with all psychedelic music, production needs to be top notch, and Grasshopper’s principal songwriters Gaurav Shah (guitars) and Rahul Singh (keys/synthesiser) leave no stone unturned to ensure every sprawling, lush, atmospheric movement is mind-expanding. From the opening song ‘Deadweight’, they establish the cinematic-ness of it all. Footsteps, voice samples, and eerie sounds all register, before moving on to a more psychedelic, dreamy sequence on ‘Monochrome Night’. Mirrors of the Mind is best heard on headphones or on a fancy 5.1 surround sound player, when every sound can creep up on you when you least expect it. The two-part song ‘The Gatekeeper’s Speech’ throws in a bit of progressive rock, in the vein of Porcupine Tree.

One part that may confuse most listeners is the Hindi language vocals from Bhaven Dhanak. None of his fault, but to find Hindi lyrics when all the song titles (and the album name) is in English may not be an intentional mistake on Grasshopper’s part. ‘Map of Hopes’ and ‘Dancing on the Leaves of Silence’ feature mellow guitar lines swelling through verses to a chorus and then dropping again.

You’re not once questioning the production value of it all, but sometimes, you feel Grasshopper could have paid a bit more attention to the songwriting itself. They do aim it well, creating cinematic music fit best for one of those off-beat Bollywood films, but go a bit overboard on the closing song ‘Weightless’, a nine-minute epic jumping too many movements to keep the listener interested. Shah breaks into dreamy solos more than once, but it’s nothing attention-grabbing.

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned metal gig, and that’s something there isn’t a dearth of in the city in the recent months. While newer, modern metal bands are also trying to etch out their own scene, the ones who’ve stuck around for the better part of a decade (and more) are now the ones organising all the gigs. Vikram Bhat of doom/death metal band Dying Embrace has been around the scene for 20 years, and he’s now put together Doom Over Bangalore –an annual event featuring his own band and stoner/doom metal stalwarts Bevar Sea as the house bands, while inviting different guest bands every year.

Their timing is good with the first edition, according to Bhat, since the gig is also the launch party for the recently-released Motorhead Tribute India album and a pre-party for the Bangalore Open Air, one of the biggest asian metal festivals taking place on July 6. Apart from the likes of Kryptos on the lineup, Kolkata thrash metal band Mortar and black/death/thrash metal band Witchgoat will also play.

Last but not least, is the return of Kannada death metal band Dhwesha, who last played in April, which was their first gig in nearly a year. Sure, it’s hard enough to understand death metal growls to begin with, and when they’re in Kannada, you’re going to be either concentrating too hard or begging the band to post lyrics online – because that’s how much anyone’s curiosity would be piqued about songs about battles, dark fantasy and the occult. Here’s an interview with the band’s guitarist Somesha Sridhara on their influences, their plans for a full-length album to follow up their demo tape Yuddhabhumi, and why they probably won’t be playing next to any other Kannada-language band, ever.

1. You guys are taking stage after quite some time, if I’m not wrong. Why the lull?

The last show we played was in April, but yeah we had not played live for a year before that, since all the members were in different parts of the country which made it difficult for us to play a show. Now that we are back, we’re looking forward to playing live more often and recording our full length album in the coming months.

2. It seems to be a great time for old school metal bands in India right now, particularly in Bangalore. Do you think it’s a revival, or it’s just more specific to Bangalore for some reason?

Well, you could say it is a ‘Revival’ of old school metal and we’re glad that it’s happening now! With bands like Dying Embrace, Millennium and Threinody back, playing live and recording new material (all three Bangalore bands, which were formed over a decade ago, regrouped in the last couple of years). It was about time the city got a dose of what good metal is all about. And it’s not just in our city, Kolkata is at it too. They have few absolutely killer bands – Mortar, Necrodeity, Armament and Dead Veneration, who play music influenced by ‘80s and early ‘90s metal bands.

3. You guys had a demo cassette tape out last year. I wanted to know how many copies you sold, and what prompted the decision to release it in cassette form?

We made only around 50 tapes which were all sold out at Trendslaughter Fest II (in January 2012). However, a Polish distro (distribution label) released our demo in Europe and there maybe a few of them available to be ordered through the distro.
We always wanted our demo to be out on tape since most of the bands that we are influenced by have had their demos and earlier albums on tape.

4. Coming to the point about your Kannada lyrics – what are they about? What kind of themes do you draw from?

The lyrics blend into our sound perfectly well. With the number of songs enough for a full length, it’s become quite natural for us now. Initially, we wrote only about war and mythology, but the newer songs we’ve written have lyrical themes ranging from Dark Fantasy to Lovecraftian imagery. One of the songs we composed after the demo has its lyrics dealing with witchcraft and the song title in English translates to ‘A Council of Witches’. Occultism is something we’re also very interested to look into for future material.

5. Are your lyrics particularly suited to being sung in Kannada? I mean, would they sound cheesy or awesome when translated into English?
Anything ‘awesome’ can also sound ‘cheesy’ when translated. It all depends on the choice of words.

6. I’m assuming you guys couldn’t/didn’t want be a part of the Motörhead India Tribute because no one wants to hear stuff like ‘The One To Sing the Blues’! Or are you guys just not that into Motörhead?
We worship Motörhead, but couldn’t be a part of the Motörhead India Tribute album as we were not around when it happened and were busy with other engagements.

7. Which bands do you draw from on the music side of things? Any Indian influences at all?

Bolt Thrower, Unleashed, Caducity, Dismember, Desultory and Eucharist to name a few. The Indian bands that we look up to, not just musically but in terms of staying true to your sound are Dying Embrace and Kryptos.

8. Hypothetically, if there was a festival/gig where only Kannada-language bands played – what kind of response do you think would Dhwesha get next to Swarathma and Raghu Dixit?

Honestly, we wouldn’t expect any response at a show where the crowd does not expect a metal band and the chances of us being a part of such a festivals is close to none.

9. Lastly, what are you guys playing at Doom Over Bangalore on June 22? What is your setlist like?

We’ll be playing most of our songs. Out of eight songs that we have, we might drop one and play a cover or two.

Doom Over Bangalore takes place on June 22 at No Limmits, MG Road. Entry Rs 700 including a free pint of beer.

Actor, director and Bangalore theatre professional Mallika Prasad’s first role was a devil dressed in high heels, Dracula fangs and a silly cape in a school play. Now with 19 years of performance experience behind her, Prasad plays a different demon in her latest solo theatre performance, Hidden in Plain Sight, at Jagriti Theatre on June 22 and 23.

The drama/comedy performance, co-written and co-directed by Prasad and playwright Ram Ganesh Kamatham, premiered at Goldsmiths College in London last year, where Prasad was studying Performance Making. Hidden in Plain Sight is influenced by an odd grouping of subjects – from the “physical vocabulary” of Kalaripayatu, which Prasad picked up at a workshop in Pondicherry, British playwright Sarah Kane’s text 4.48 Psychosis, which deals with depression, and Prasad’s early work with theatre actor Khalid Tyabji. “The initial impulse I started with was to investigate the idea of being in ‘social limbo’, specific to the experiences of women in Bangalore, in their 30s,” says Prasad.

The performance also continues Prasad and Kamatham’s exploration of urban Bangalore. Inspired by Brian Friel’s Translations, the performance plays with “the feeling of being on the threshold, at a moment of imminent transformation with all its associated emotional responses – nostalgia for the past, fear of death, and equanimity through change,” according to Prasad. Friel’s play dealt with cultural and political identities and language in Ireland, while Hidden in Plain Sight is about four different women when they are in-between worlds. The central plot gives life to the Mailer Daemon, who looks slightly twisted and wicked. It’s not just the software that notifies you about failed delivery emails, but in this performance, it knows of all the conversations – gossip, confessions, despair, hope – that never went through to their intended recipient. Prasad is the only actor in this play, and effortlessly switches characters with help of just lighting, music and some crafty writing, courtesy of Kamatham.

And it certainly has received a very different reception compared to its first performance in London, and now after Prasad returned to Bangalore. “In the first encounter, I was also playing with what it meant to be from urban India engaging with new writing in English,” says Prasad, adding: “The expectation was to conform to the conventions of what is typically called ‘British-South Asian theatre’, so it was really entertaining juggling the identity politics and going completely against the grain.”

Back in India, the performance is being received with a variety of reactions, with some being scandalised, but others completely understanding the crux of Hidden in Plain Sight. Adds Prasad: “After London, we began rework on the play and performed at Adishakti (Lab for Theatre Arts Research) in Pondicherry in December 2012. We then performed at two festivals in early 2013, one at the International Festival of Kerala and one in Bareilly.

In Pondicherry the response was very favourable, and a performance in Thrissur was received by nearly three hundred people. But a show in Bareilly was the craziest so far, according to Prasad, who adds they left a few audience members in scandalised shock. “The way the meaning changes as soon as I meet an audience here is what I find really fascinating right now,” says Prasad.

Hidden in Plain Sight takes place on June 22 and 23at Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield, at 8 pm on Saturday and 3 pm and 6:30 pm on Sunday. Tickets are available at Rs 250, with discounts for senior citizens and students.

]]>https://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/on-the-threshold-hidden-in-plain-sight-theatre-preview/feed/0anuragtagatBeatstreet: Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City Album Reviewhttps://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/beatstreet-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city-album-review/
https://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/beatstreet-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city-album-review/#respondThu, 18 Jul 2013 18:18:00 +0000http://anuragtagat.wordpress.com/?p=333Continue reading →]]>Originally published in the Hindu Metroplus Bangalore edition on June 12th, 2013

It’s been three years since we last heard from Columbia students-turned-indie-rockers Vampire Weekend. That New York street/hipster wisdom always gets an air of sophistication when vocalist Ezra Koenig harps on about any subject ranging from money to cousins to Oxford commas.

Now on their third album, Modern Vampires of the City, the band keeps the afro-pop influences, but mould into a slightly darker sound space that is still essentially fun and indie rock. They defy the cheery singles they usually put out first by opening the album with ‘Obvious Bicycle’, a downer of a song with a minimal piano-and-drum beat with tons of vocal harmonies, as Koenig says, “Oh you ought to spare your face the razor/Because no one’s gonna spare their time for you.” Even when there’s a happy beat you’re tapping your feet to, like on ‘Unbelievers’, a clear classic from the band, the lyrics go on about how the world is a cold place. Koenig’s world-wise poetry shines once again, when he says, “But what holy water contains a little drop, little drop for me?”

Guitarist/synth in-charge Rostam Batmanglij, apart from throwing in extra vocals, constructs brilliant structures with bassist Chris Baio and drummer Chris Tomson. They play around with Koenig’s voice, modulating it on the consoling, half-pleading ‘Step’, which features a lush, haunting background. The more simpler, Afro-pop leaning ‘Diane Young’ is, like the play on words in the title suggests, a lament about growing old. There’s a variation of that on ‘Don’t Lie’, and you don’t hear anything too interesting till ‘Ya Hey’ comes on, a song mired in religious symbolism and of course, death.

A lot of Modern Vampires of the City is variations on themes of death, or perhaps a symbolic death of their young selves, as they move into their third album, and a more mature space, whether they like it or not. The usually upbeat music too takes a different turn, toward slower, moodier melodies with sparse beats (especially evident on the dirge-like ‘Hudson’). As long as they’re experimenting, though, there’s little doubt that this album is a winner.